It may not seem like it, but economists are saying the housing market is beginning to recover from its downturn. We are still going to experience a lot of pain, however, and a complete recovery will depend on financing, according to Joel Singer, economist and executive vice president of the California Association of REALTORS®.

“The good news is the sanity in housing has returned,” Singer told members of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® at my local trade association’s annual meeting held at the Computer History Museum. “The bad news is there has been tremendous dislocation - the trade-up market has been badly damaged, and although the recovery is underway, it just doesn’t feel good.”

While he worries about the federal government’s “Spend Now – Worry Later” fiscal policy, troubling as it may seem - the federal budget deficit will reach $1.6 trillion this year - it is helping the economy get back on its feet.

“The fact of the matter is a year ago we were looking at an economic meltdown,” Singer stated. “The market is currently reflecting more upside opportunities than downside risk, as painful as it seems.”

In California, sales are improving at a faster rate than much of the country, with California topping all states with a 10 percent market share of all FHA lending in the country. C.A.R. predicts the median home price in California will rise 3.3 percent to $280,000 in 2010 compared with a projected median of $271,000 this year; sales for 2010 are expected to decrease 2.3 percent to 527,500 units, compared with the projected 540,000 units in 2009.

To read more about the real estate market of Silicon Valley go HERE!

Mortgage Mania 26 - …And Henry Giveth Again

You would have to be living under a rock to have missed this today, so here is a newsflash for all you subterranian dwellers. Henry Paulson’s latest bailout plan now consists of borrowing $800 Billion from The Fed to buy up mortgage assets, consumer credit card debt…. More